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Concerns remained Thursday about the whereabouts of more than a dozen priests, seminarians, and a bishop who have been detained in recent days as part of a crackdown on the Catholic Church by the government of President Daniel Ortega.

During his visit to the Israel-Lebanon border on Wednesday for a situational evaluation, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the IDF Chief of General Staff, briefed security officials, confirming that the Israeli military is in a “very strong state of readiness in the north” as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned of a “very costly” war “without limits” if the situation erupted into a full-scale conflict.

New York City sued 17 Texas busing companies on Thursday for $700 million, arguing the money would cover the city’s costs for caring for roughly 33,600 foreign nationals bused there after illegally crossing the border in Texas.

Indonesia ushered in the New Year with five erupting volcanos, prompting authorities to evacuate thousands of people while warning climbers to stay away after a volcanic tragedy killed 23 people last month.

Police in the U.S. state of Iowa say the gunman who shot multiple people at a high school on students’ first day back in classes has died.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people.

After Islamic terrorists murdered 21 more Christians in Nigeria’s Taraba state last month, two Nigerian lawmakers have called on the federal government to take action to protect Christian communities against relentless murderous attacks by jihadist groups, Christian Daily International-Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

An evangelical church leader imprisoned in Sichuan province, China, on charges of fraud, insists he is innocent and has refused to accept the prosecution’s offer to release him if he would just plead guilty, China Aid reports. 

The United States and 11 international partners have called for an immediate end to attacks on ships by Iran-backed Houthis in the Red Sea and suggested the rebels may face military retaliation if they continue their strikes.

Local Christians are thanking God as Mauritania authorities have now released 15 believers who were arrested after video footage of their participation in a baptismal ceremony in November triggered local Muslims to demand their imprisonment on the grounds of illegal proselytization, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.